


betty

by StardewTales



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, High School, Mutual Pining, POV Alternating, Personal Growth, Relationship Reveal, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, also heavily drawing from exile they're my top 2 from folklore ok, also we start with conflict we die like men no exposition chapters, also; teenage nostalgia aplenty, click for a double slow burn over two different timelines, i should add my favourite tag: complex haley, let's be real here a schoolbus seat shared with ur crush is a bubble that stands outside of time, she is a fully realized creation not a bitch stand in i pinky swear, tldr i listened to betty by taylor swift on loop in the car and this happened
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:14:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27237868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StardewTales/pseuds/StardewTales
Summary: The worst thing Alex ever did was what he did to her. He was 17 back then, he didn't know anything. But, well, if he knew one thing, it was that he missed her, that summer. That's why he showed up at her party, in spite of everything.Years later, Elizabeth moves back to town, for good this time. Long-forgotten feelings rush to the surface, but they've both seen this film before, and, well, neither liked the ending. Neither are who they used to be, so what are they to each other now?
Relationships: Alex/Female Player (Stardew Valley), Alex/Original Character(s), Alex/Original Female Character(s), Alex/Player (Stardew Valley)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 22





	1. if i showed up at your party

**Author's Note:**

> am i being a bad person by starting this fic when I have a perfectly incomplete one sitting right in my drafts? yes. still, i hope you like this. 
> 
> not to be ultra meta but I've been feeling like there's almost a template to farmer x love interest fics, and this is my attempt at wrestling away from it. i'm excited for the way this story will unfold and I hope you'll appreciate!! as always, thanks for reading xx

It’s the night of Elizabeth’s party, and Alex’s palms are sweaty. She’s back, finally, at last, and it’s so much more bittersweet than it should be. The memory of the look in her eyes yesterday is burned into his mind.

_At first he thought she was a mirage, standing by the river, by the trailer door. He raced out the house, ignoring his grandfather telling him to slow down. The sound of the door slamming shut behind him had caught her attention, and her cheery eyes glazed over with something so cold when their eyes crossed, Alex actually stopped in his tracks._

_“Bye, Penny,” she told her friend, before pointedly starting to walk back towards the town square._

_“Hey, hold on!” Alex called out after her. She only started to walk faster._

_Even after jogging up to her, she still didn’t care to slow down for him._

_“Hey, did I do something wrong?” he asked her, brow furrowed. “I didn’t know you were back in town already. I, uh, I missed you,” he tried, dishing out his signature corner-of-the-mouth smile for her._

_She only laughed at that, a stark and dry sound not at all like the bubbly laughter he remembered from the spring. “I don’t know Alexander, did you?” she squinted at him._

_His stomach twisted into knots, and he stopped walking, stunned. Surely it couldn’t be that..?_

_She turned to look at him. Her jaw was set, but her eyes betrayed an ache, bright and burning in the way he thought only anger could. “Just…,” she sighed, “Leave me alone, Alex. I should’ve known better.”_

_He’d never before felt a pain like this in his chest. He gave up trying to follow her and angrily stomped his way back to his room. There, he whipped out his flip phone, slamming the keys to type out, to Haley;_

wtf did u do

_It took Haley a full minute to reply._

Idk what ur talking abt :)

_He felt his fist clench by his side. He didn’t want to deal with her bullshit, not right then. He called her instead._

_She picked up after the phone rang twice._

_“Hey Alex,” she said, nonchalant._

_“Don’t ‘hey Alex’ me,” he replied, nearly biting. “I thought we had an agreement.”_

_She didn’t reply right away, and took her sweet time. “It was time you learned to keep your own secrets.”_

_He could practically feel his blood boil. “What the fuck does that even mean.”_

_“I’ve decided I’m not gonna lie for you, actually,” she said, and he heard the sound of chewing gum. “It bores me. What happened happened, and if you’re not cool with that, well, maybe next time, don’t,” and with that she hung up on him._

So now Alex stands on the dirt road that leads to the farm in a cloud of his best body spray, the one she likes, shoulders heavy. He can hear the music playing outside, the occasional cheer. When he gets there, will she even have him? Will she want him there? Will she tell him to go fuck himself, or lead him somewhere quiet in the garden, where she’ll give him a chance to explain himself? Will she trust him if he says it was just a summer thing, that he dreamt of _her_ all summer long? 

He steels himself and marches on. When he passes the gate, it feels like the music stops. He sees her over there, a red cup in hand which clashes with the beige and linen white of her cardigan and dress. She looks as lovely and soft as he remembers. As he walks up to her, they lock eyes.

“Hey, Betty,” he says, and despite the ache in his chest, he can’t help but smile.


	2. exile

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> publishing the first two chapters at once because i am your kind and benevolent dm

**_A number of years later_ **

“...Betty?”

Alex can’t believe his eyes. Somehow he doesn’t know how to process her standing there, at the front door, after all these years, carrying an armful of tulips. It would be a great joke if it were funny at all.

Her own eyes grow wide, and her cheeks blush that familiar shade of red he somehow managed to forget.

“Alex,” she says back, dumbfounded. “Uh, hi.”

From the kitchen, his grandmother calls out. “Alex, sweetheart, who is it?”

His mouth dries up.  _ A ghost _ , he almost replies. 

“Oh, is that Evelyn?” Betty perks up. “I brought these for her, actually,” and she nods to the bright blooms she’s carrying.

Evelyn comes around the corner, barely standing by Alex before she gasps. “Oh Elizabeth, it really is you! I was wondering when you’d finally pay us a visit, come in, dear,” she says warmly.

Alex is too stunned to even move.  _ What? _

Betty brushes by him awkwardly, half-avoiding his gaze. 

He shuts the door behind her in a daze as his grandmother leads Betty to the kitchen. He feels as though he’s fallen down the rabbit hole to a new twisted version of reality. He’s vaguely aware of his grandmother fawning over the flowers, of how Betty talks of the farm and how she’s somehow running it now? He’s too stuck on wondering how he knew nothing of any of this to say anything. He just stands there, clutching the back of a dining chair perhaps a little too hard.

Eventually, his grandmother brings him back to his senses. “Alex, what do you think? You two must have so much to talk about, after all this time. You ought to walk her back home, darling.”

He sees Betty look like a deer caught in the headlights. “Really, Mrs. Mullner,” she stammers, “I can make it back home on my-”

“Sure, why not,” he cuts her off, garnering him a shocked look from her and a delighted one from his grandmother. “Can I talk to you first, though?” he asks the latter.

“I’ll be, uh, waiting outside,” Betty says, visibly uncomfortable. “It was so nice seeing you again, Mrs. Mullner,” she sweetens up, sincere in her smile.

“Stop by any time, honey,” Evelyn tells her. “And please, call me Evelyn.”

Alex waits to hear the door shut before he speaks up.

“Hey, so, what was that?” he asks. He can feel himself getting worked up. “How come you didn’t tell me Betty was back in town?”

Evelyn frowns. “You didn’t know? I assumed you would have heard from Haley at the very least. I’m sorry darling, I really thought you just didn’t want to talk about it.”

He sighs. “Haley and I aren’t… speaking, right now. Besides, you know, I’ve been spending all my time training. Haven’t had time for gossip and rumours. I guess I’m just a little… blindsided.”

She pats his arm gently. “And I wish you’d be a little gentler on yourself. But go, now! Don’t make her wait too long, alright? It’s so wonderful, having an old friend back in your life like this.”

_ Right _ . Nevertheless, he abides, and grabs his jacket before stepping out. Betty is standing by Dusty’s pen, murmuring quietly as he lets her scratch his chin.

“Still such a good boy,” Betty coos as Dusty’s eyes flutter shut. “I missed you so much little buddy, yes I did.”

Alex can’t help but chuckle. “He always did like you. I bet he missed you too.”

She turns to look at him, the corner of her mouth lifting up. She seems about to say something, but bites it back, and instead opts for a “Shall we?”.

He nods, slipping his hands into his pockets. “Sure. Lead the way.”

They begin to walk side by side, and an awkward silence settles in. Both are keenly aware, as they cross the town square, of Jodi and Caroline chatting and stealing indiscrete glances towards them. 

Alex feels sort of helpless, the sort he’s only ever felt around her, back then. “So you’re back, then, uh?” he ends up asking, if only to dispel that specific feeling.

“So it seems,” she nods, clearing her throat. 

“For good?” he asks, lifting a brow.

Her lips pucker to the side as she ponders this. “If I can manage to bring the farm back to life, then yes, I guess,” she swallows.

“Uh,” he nods. Then a question emerges in his mind like a ship breaking through a wave. “Why now?”

She scratches the side of her arm, and it looks like she’s holding herself, or shielding herself from something. He remembers how she did this all the time, in their school years, whenever she got nervous. “I guess you could say I had a change of heart.”

He would press if he got this answer from anybody else. But with her, well, he knows better.

“Can I say something?” he blurts as they reach the dirt path that leads out of town and to the bus stop.

She looks up at him, something quizzical to her gaze. Still, she nods.

He has to breathe in before he can let it out. “This is really weird, right?”

She chuckles softly. “It really is.”

For the first time that afternoon, he feels relief. It gets a chuckle out of him as well, makes the sunlight a little warmer on his skin. 

“I don’t know why, but I kinda thought you moved away, somehow,” she tells him.

He can’t help but grind his teeth. “Still working on that, I guess,” he replies. “For what it’s worth, I never thought I’d see you again,” he adds, softer this time, perhaps softer than he intended.

She chuckles again. “Yeah. Me too.” She hesitates. “I hope it’s not too big a disappointment,” she halfway smirks, teasing-adjacent.

“Seeing you”? He replies, smirking too. “Never.”

He sees the dusting of pink spread across the bridge of her nose. She tries to hide it by turning her face towards the old, decrepit bus stop where they used to wait every morning. An old sense of gratification bubbles up from an abyss of forgotten memories. Except this time, it’s mixed in with guilt. What is he doing?

“I heard the bus went into disrepair,” she says, still looking away at the overgrowth. “It’s a shame.”

“Meh,” he shrugs. “That old thing was never comfortable.”

She huffs, amused. “I guess I’ve just been a little nostalgic,” she admits, finally looking back at him.

Their eyes lock, and by god, it screws with his head. Her eyes are just as clear and bright as they ever were, still underlined by the sparse array of freckles across her nose and cheeks. Seeing them again, it digs at the pile of fossilized adolescent hours of pining he thought were long buried. This time it’s him who looks away promptly, feeling warmth creep up his neck.

“I bet,” he struggles to say. “Can’t imagine what this must all be like for you.”

They finally reach the now-rusted gates that delimit the entry to the farm.

“Well, this is me,” she sighs. “You can tell your grandma you were the perfect gentleman she expected,” she tells him, tongue-in-cheek, a callback to simpler times.

He laughs. “Yeah. Damn. Funny how much you forget about over time.”

A shadow passes over her face. Her whole demeanour shifts imperceptibly, and this time when their eyes cross, her stare is guarded. “Thanks for walking with me,” she says cautiously.

He is both at a loss and, at a deeper level, understands. “Anytime,” he tells her with a fragile smile. “I’ll see you around, Betty,” he tells her, an echo of so many mirror images of this exact scene. 

He can tell from her face she remembers too. “Be careful, Alex,” she answers knowingly.


	3. broken cobblestones

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> double chapter drop! Since chapters are fairly short (much shorter than my standard), i'll always be updating 2-3 chapters at a time. hope you enjoy xx

_ A number of years prior, Spring _

“Now, Alex, won’t you walk Elizabeth back to the farm?” Evelyn chastises him as he watches his brand new tutor pack up her things. “It’s the least you could do, really, darling.”

Alex winces, slightly annoyed. “...Do I have to?”

His grandmother gives him the Big Eyes of Disapprovement, and he knows he’s done for. “I won’t have it be said I raised anything less than a perfect gentleman, Alex,” she insists.

“Ugh, fine, alright,” he sighs. He turns to Elizabeth, all quiet stares and pretending not to hear the small argument. “Are you ready to go?”

“Yes,” she nods diligently. 

“Good,” Evelyn approves. “Now get her straight home and come right back, no loitering alright?”

“Yes Grandma,” he acquiesces. 

“Now give me a kiss and go,” she orders him, tapping her cheek, a mischievous smile to her. He knows she’s doing this because he “gave her attitude”, and he has to really make a conscious effort not to give some more. He quickly obliges, and glares at Elizabeth when he notices the amusement in the curve of her mouth as she pretends she didn’t see.

Alex stomps his way outside the home, annoyed as ever, and she quickly follows after Evelyn makes sure to give her a tupperware of freshly baked cookies to bring back to her grandfather as a “token of their appreciation”. 

To be clear, Alex still thinks it’s bullshit they’re all making him go through this tutoring thing. Why does he need good grades anyways? It’s not like he needs to be good at literary analysis to throw a gridball around for money. Because that’s what he’ll be doing, he just knows it. Even the coach admitted it was bullshit. Well, he might as well have. 

“Your grandma’s nice,” Elizabeth says as they walk, readjusting the straps of her backpack, twice the size of his own and filled to the brim with books and pencil cases.

“She’s okay,” he replies, still too annoyed to give her too much credit. 

She doesn’t reply, only nods, unconvinced. Only then, for the first time, does he take a real good look at her. 

He guesses she’s pretty, despite the too loose clothes. Not the kind of girl he goes for, though. She looks the part of a farm girl, and he’s seen her sit with Sebastian’s little sister and the trailer kid around the bus.  _ A bunch of nerds _ , one of his friends once noted in the queue at school. Alex never had to pay any of them much mind, before now.

“For the record,” he tells her, “I didn’t ask for this.”

She looks at him and squints, like she’s trying to size him up. “I know that.”

He feels himself frown. “Oh?”

“Thanks for, uh, going along with it still, I guess,” she errs, looking everywhere but at him. “It would only be painful for the two of us if you weren’t even trying. I think today went well.”

“Well,” he shrugs, “might as well, you know? I should be thanking you, though. If this gets everyone off my back, you’ll be doing me a huge service,” he admits reluctantly. “Why are you doing this anyways? I know they’re not paying you.”

It’s her turn to shrug. “Didn’t have a good reason to say no.”

He looks at her like she’s an alien. “That’s a bullshit answer.”

She chuckles. “It’s the answer you’re getting.”

_ Uh. _ “You’re weird,” he tells her matter-of-factly.

She seems to take a break to consider this. “Maybe so,” she shrugs.

He huffs. “Well, I’m not calling you Elizabeth. That’s way too long. You need a nickname,” he declares.

“I don’t do nicknames,” she tells him, attempting to shut him down right away.

A ray of sun pierces the clouds, and Alex feels like the tides have turned on him for the day; finally, after a long boring day, a girl to tease.

“How do you feel about Liz?” he asks, scratching his chin dramatically.

“Please, no,” she looks at him, rolling her eyes.

“Yeah, doesn’t suit you,” he pretends to agree. “Beth, maybe?”

Her eyes shut, and she rubs at her brow.

He swiftly stands in front of her to block the way. By that point, they’ve made it just out of town. 

“What are you doing?” she asks him, stopping in her tracks.

“Mmhh,” he hums, and gently he puts a finger under her chin to lift her face towards him as if to take a good look at her. “Oh, I know,” he smiles, feeling smug. She may be smarter than him, but he can still make her squirm like this. “You’re a total Betty.”

He lets go of her chin and turns back around, but not before noticing the redness that spreads swiftly across her cheeks.

“And you’re a total jerk,” she retorts, weakly.

“Didn’t you hear my grandmother earlier?” he looks at her over his shoulder. “She raised nothing short of a perfect gentleman, her words not mine,” he smirks. “Now keep up,  _ Betty _ , we’re almost there.”


	4. i knew you

_ A number of years later, Spring _

Alex saw her again today. His grandmother forced him to hand deliver a tupperware of fresh cookies at the farm. As he lays down in bed, he can’t fall asleep. All he sees when he closes his eyes is the curve of her ass in those shorts, the holy vision at the end of his pilgrimage to the farm, offering in tow. 

It’s not like he  _ meant _ to ogle. He just happened to step onto her property as she stood on all fours, sowing some type of seed, facing the opposite direction. 

Betty sure has filled out since he saw her last. She still dresses like a farmer, but now, well, the clothes fit better, to say the least.  _ Wow _ , he thinks,  _ I still think like a fucking teenager _ . 

He can’t bring himself to decide if allowing himself to revisit the memories of their times spent together would be normal or such a loser thing to do. Lying on his back in the dark, Alex proceeds to convince himself it’s not his fault she has this effect on him, it’s just a relic of a reflex, something that’ll go away once he’s used to seeing her around again.

And yet, no amount of convincing soothes the dull throb he’s been feeling since he opened the door to her the other day.  _ We never got closure _ , he tries to tell himself.  _ What the fuck are we supposed to act like now? _

He can tell she struggles when she’s around him, too. Just today, she kept alternating between the way she used to be before that fateful summer, and the way she was after it. Alex doesn’t like to think about what he did back then. He doesn’t like remembering just how bad he screwed everything up. And he doesn’t like seeing Betty clam up in real time, leaving him to have to coax her out of her shell all over again.

_ We used to be so close _ , he thinks, bitter, turning on his side. Through the window, he sees the moon shine in the night sky. He hears Pam stumble home, drunk, past his house.

* * *

_ We used to be so close _ , Elizabeth sighs at the reflection in the mirror, running the comb through her damp hair in the still steamy bathroom.

She’s still rattled from Alex’s visit. She doesn’t know how to act around him. Doesn’t know where to draw the line between letting him off easy and letting bygones be bygones. It doesn’t help he’s still such an incorrigible flirt, either. 

_ “Since when do you wear shorts?” he asked, handing over the cookies. _

_ “What?” she replied, confused. _

_ “You never used to wear them, is all I’m saying. It’s a good look on you,” he looked her up and down. _

_ “Oh, uh, thanks,” she blushed, the heat drawing from a pool of feelings she thought had dried out long ago. “I guess,” she added hastily, not wanting to let it seem like his words had so much sway over her. _

_ It was too late, if the smugness of his smile was any indicator. _

Man, she forgot about the sheer amount of flirting. And despite all that happened, all the heartache, still he can make her blush just by looking at her a certain way. She hates that he still has such a hold over her, like she’s still a hopeful teenager with a crush on the quarterback. 

_ I need to stop looking at him through my own eyes _ , she thinks. It’s got to be the solution. She can’t keep looking at him like he’s the one thing that tethered her to the Valley all those years ago, like he’s the key to feeling home here again.

She sighs as she eventually slips into bed. It still doesn’t feel like _ her _ bed. She lived here for a majority of two years back then, so then how come can’t she feel at home now that she owns the place?

It’s because her grandfather isn’t here anymore, she finally realizes, and it grips her. The ghost of him lingers in every crook and corner, but he himself is nowhere to be found. She’s got to do something about that, she resolves. She’ll turn the whole place upside down if she has to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!!


	5. when you are young

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay but the way i am gonna short circuit when taylor drops the re-recordings and we get to have all too well all over again,,, but also begin again???? potentially re-recorded with ed??? I don't stand for his last few albums but gotta give it to him + was fundamental for me wow

_ A number of years prior, Spring _

On the first truly warm day of the season, the school bus feels like a warming oven, eliciting yet another layer of sweat on the adolescent bodies it carries. Betty has her bench for herself at least, sitting right in front of Maru and Penny, towards the middle. She’s kneeling on her seat, holding on to the back of it as she talks with her new friends. The bus driver is Penny’s mom, and she never cares to look in the back mirror to chastise unsafe behaviour. 

Penny is in the process of recommending a book to Maru when Betty’s eyes catch Alex’s, alone in his bench now that his friend got off at Grampleton. She smiles at him, and he smiles back. She’s been tutoring him for two weeks now, almost every day after school, and so far, it’s going pretty well. 

A minute or so passes before all of a sudden Alex stands up and walks to her bench.

“This seat empty?” he asks, one knee already resting on the worn, faded leather.

She’s caught off guard, but she nods and swiftly tugs her backpack to her, sitting down properly. Behind them, she can tell Penny and Maru have gone quiet, the giddy type of silence that friends allow you when a cute boy comes to talk to you.

“I was thinking,” he tells her as she notices how much of the space he takes up, “if we get started in the bus, we won’t have to study as long later, you know?”

She takes a second to consider this, and to steady her heartbeat. The truth is that she’s never met someone her age so overwhelming; tall and broad-shouldered, smelling loudly of body spray and deodorant but never of sweat, always fidgeting somehow, seizing every opportunity he gets to look right into her eyes.

“Sure,” she nods. She could use the extra time herself, so this sounds as good an idea as it can to her.

“Sick,” he smiles, self-satisfied, and unzips his bag.

* * *

Later that day, Alex walks her back home like every time she comes over. He’s taken up to bringing Dusty along on the walks, a fun addition that always provides something to turn to when the conversation stalls.

“See how we totally ended earlier today?” he asks, clearly proud of his bus studying initiative.

She chuckles, glancing at him sideways. “True,” she concedes. 

“So anyways, what’ve you got going on tonight?” he asks her, tugging Dusty closer with the leash. 

“The usual,” she tells him, too aware of how boring her evenings are. “Homework, chores, you know,” she says.

He whistles. “Damn Betty, that’s no fun,” he shakes his head. “What do you even do for fun, actually?”

“I mean, I like to read,” she shrugs. She used to have more going on, before she came to live with her grandfather for school. Now the days blur together, invisible edges meshing together slowly. It’s why she’s secretly glad she gets to tutor Alex, although she’d never tell him that.

“Tss,” he tuts, disapproving. “We should hang out sometime,” he gives her a conspiratorial look, “Properly. No homework or anything. Show you what a real good time looks like,” he winks at her.

She refuses to give in to the creeping warmth this elicits in her. “Right, sure,” she replies, huffing lightly, dubious.

“What?” he replies, almost shocked. “You don’t believe me?”

“Spare me,” she rolls her eyes, amused by this little charade. “We both know I’m not the kind of person you hang out with.”

“Oh yeah?” he raises a brow, amused as well. “Tell me then, what kind of person do I hang out with?”

“Haley, for starters,” she points out.

“Haley’s no fun when she has a boyfriend,” he shakes his head. “Try again.”

She cringes. She really stepped into that one. “I don’t know,” she replies evasively. “Just… the cool kids,” she attempts, and he laughs. “Shut up,” she purses her lips, but she can’t hold the smile down very long.

“Well, I think you’re cool,” he tells her, looking away towards the woods. “So where does that leave us?”

“Silly,” she chuckles. “You don’t have to say that, you know. I’m good with who I am.”

He glances at her sideways, smirking. “That’s why you’re cool,” he teases, and they stop walking because they’ve made it to the farm gates. “Well, I’ll see you around, Betty,” he tells her.

“Careful on your way back,” she teases back. “Don’t let Dusty spot any squirrels,” she jokes, referring to the previous day when, on their walk, the dog nearly dislocated Alex’s shoulder with a sudden sprint towards the forest’s edge.

“Ha ha,” he fake laughs, rolling his eyes, before softening when their eyes meet. “Anyways. Bye, Betty,” he waves.

She likes the dark green shade of his eyes, speckled with gold. “Bye, Alex,” she smiles back.


	6. running like water

_ A number of years later, Spring _

It’s as nice a spring day as they get, and Alex is out for a jog. He’s on his way home from the mountain, and when he passes by Pierre’s he hears the familiar chime of the door opening up. He looks out of curiosity, and falters when he sees Betty walk out with a carefully balanced pile of cleaning supplies.

“Need a hand?” he calls out, and taken off guard, she is startled into dropping several items.

He doesn’t hesitate to go right for the stuff that fell onto the cobblestones, picking it all up as he feels her gaze on him.

“Betty, Betty, Betty,” he tuts, straightening up. “When’d you get so clumsy?”

She shakes her head. “I’d ask since when do you have a habit of sneaking up on girls like that, but we both know that answer already,” she teases.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he replies earnestly. “Let me help you bring this stuff back to yours, least I can do really.”

She looks at him skeptically. “Weren’t you doing something?”

“Lucky for you,” he grins, “I was just finishing up my jog.”

* * *

“Phew,” Alex drops the cleaning supplies on the floor, “This place looks nothing like I remembered.

“Yeah,” Betty sighs, looking around. “It smells weird, right?”

“Sorta,” he nods, not wanting to sound harsh despite the fact that it really does smell weird. 

He watches her purse her lips, pondering. “I’ll scrub the walls if I have to,” she says, resolved.

Alex can tell she has her work cut out for her. And it’s bound to be exhausting work. 

“Hey,” he says, turning to look at her, “let me help.”

She looks at him with wide eyes, dumbfounded. “What? Why?”

He swallows. “You’re never gonna be done by the end of the day if you do this alone,” he appraises the bundle of supplies they just carried.

“Alex,” she presses on. There’s that closed off look again, the one that doesn’t trust him anymore.

“Fine,” he raises both hands. “Call it penance for my sins, alright? I just wanna help.”

A tense silence settles in. She’s staring him down, as if to gauge his true intentions.

“You have a twisted concept of redemption,” she finally says.

He rolls his eyes. “Just give me the broom.”

They work silently through the afternoon, dusting and scrubbing and rinsing endlessly. It’s hot and suffocating inside, even with a window open. At some point, Alex simply takes off his shirt.  _ Fuck it _ , he thinks.

When Betty turns to look at him for the first time after he does it, she sighs. “Really?”

“Hey, feel free to do the same,” he chuckles. Alright, he may have done it partially to get a reaction out of her. 

“You’re impossible,” she rolls her eyes, but he sees the way she smirks as she says it. “Do you still play Gridball?” she asks him, going back to work.

“I still train, yeah,” he resumes scrubbing. “I’m trying to get a tryout for the Tunnelers this summer. Turns out, it’s harder to get in if you’re not part of a uni team.”

“And yet here you are, cleaning my floor instead of training,” she teases him.

“Whoever said this wasn’t training?” he gets on his knees to flex his muscles at her, squeezing the sponge.

She throws her sponge at him to get him to stop, shaking her head, laughing. Except the sponge goes wide, and rather than letting it miss, he dives for it across the wet floor. He catches it, but slips and collides shoulder first with the wooden floorboards. He winces, hurt, and she rushes to his side, kneeling beside him.

“You idiot,” she says, concerned, reaching out to touch his arm as he sits up. “Are you alright?”

“Nothing a pro gridballer can’t handle,” he tries to joke, rubbing at what will surely turn into a bruise, but nothing worse.

Her eyes are flitting all over him, as if to find any evidence that he’s not telling her the full extent of it.

“Hey, at least I caught the sponge,” he dangles it in front of her.

She slaps it away, out of his grasp.

“I don’t care about the stupid sponge,” she attempts to shove his chest half-heartedly.

Before he knows what he’s doing he catches her wrists before her hands can even make contact with him. He hears how her breath sucks in when their eyes meet, or was that him? Why is there guilt in  _ her _ eyes? Or is it regret? He can’t place what he sees besides the sorrow.

Instinctively, he lets go of her and brings her in for a hug instead. She freezes as he lets his head rest on top of hers. “I’m fine, alright?” he says in a near-whisper.

She nods weakly before giving in and burying her head into him. 

“I missed you,” he whispers, patting her hair softly. She smells like lavender and love lost.

“I missed you too,” she whispers back.

“I’m sorry for everything that happened back then, too,” he adds, because he’s been dying to tell her, and if not now, when? “I was a huge jerk, no doubt. You’d have every right to never wanna see me again,” he sighs.

She moves to get away from his hold, and he lets her free. She looks him in the eye. “We were young,” she says, half-smiling. “The way it happened really sucked, but we were probably never really meant to work out anyways. I forgave you a long time ago, Alex.”

He nods, casting his eyes to the ground. What she said makes perfect sense, and she forgave him. So why does hearing this make him so sad?

“C’mon,” she rises to her feet. “We still have plenty to go through.”


	7. a moment in time

_ A number of years prior, Spring _

Alex sits down next to her in the bus, like he’s done every day since the first time, but this time Betty looks out the window as she hugs her backpack closer.

“I’m sorry,” she sighs, “I just don’t feel like starting to work right away today. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Oh,” he replies, a little shocked. “Yeah no I get it,” he sinks into the bench, leaving the zipper of his bag alone. “Is… Is everything good?”

“Enough, I guess,” she purses her lips and lets go of her bag to scratch at her arm. 

Alex nods repeatedly, unsure how to proceed. Should he get up and leave her alone?

“Do you wanna listen to music?” he asks her instead.

She turns to him, brow raised, trying to tell whether he’s serious or not. He fishes out his mp3 player and the tangle of his earbuds to prove his point.

“Okay,” she nods, and he hands her one half of the earbuds.

They mostly listen to the songs in silence, with Betty looking out the window. Alex wonders why she seems so defeated. Instead of asking, he tells her this next song is a legit banger. She smiles at that, almost laughs, and something unexpected blooms in his chest. He steals glances at her throughout the ride as she stares out the window with the furtivity he usually saves for cheating on tests.

Sharing a bench with her is so much nicer than with his other friend. Much less punching involved, at the very least. When one of his favourite songs comes on, he starts bobbing his head repeatedly, and she turns to him with an amused grin.

“You like this one?” she teases him.

“Oh yeah,” he winks at her. “You have no idea,” he says, watching her cheeks turn pink.

When they finally get off the bus, he turns to her. 

“Listen, it’s fine if you’re not in the mood to help me out with my homework,” he tells her as the other students start walking home

“It’s okay, I feel better now,” she tells him, eyes shining brighter than they did earlier. “Besides, I don’t wanna go home right away. I’d rather stay with you.”

“Oh,” he replies, stunned shy by her earnestness. “Cool,” he scratches at his head. Why does he feel so warm all of a sudden?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry about all the delay between updates, hope you enjoyed the three chapter drop though!


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